Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Early Modern & Renaissance

128 Episodes 23 Series 132 Figures 76 Events 323 Books 252 Authors

Covering roughly the 15th through 18th centuries, this collection examines religious, political, imperial, and cultural transformations of the Renaissance and early modern world. Series include American Crusades (Christianity’s influence on American foreign policy and warfare from the colonial era onward), Amsterdam (the city’s rise from a fishing village to a financial hub), Aztec Epic (Hernán Cortés’s expedition and the fall of the Aztecs), Charles I: Trial and Execution (causes and consequences of regicide), and Christopher Columbus (origins and Atlantic voyages). Episodes address public debate and coffee-house culture, Magna Carta, Elizabeth I’s early reign, Ireland and Cromwell, and oddities such as Hwang Jini. Figures and events discussed include Ignatius of Loyola, Anne Boleyn, Mehmed II, William III, Sack of Antwerp, Sack of Texcoco, encomienda, Great Trier witch trials, and works like The Embarrassment of Riches and Stations of the Sun.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 128

2026

10 episodes

The Fall of the Incas: The Last Emperor (Part 6)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 6

In this gripping finale, join Dominic and Tom as they explore the chaotic aftermath of the Incan Empire's collapse. Wit…

The Fall of the Incas: Death to the Emperor (Part 3)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 3

In this gripping episode, Dominic and Tom delve into the fate of Atahualpa, the captured Inca emperor, as he attempts t…

The Fall of the Incas: The King in the North (Part 4)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 4

In this gripping episode, Dominic and Tom delve into the brutal conquest of the Incas by Spanish conquistadors under Fr…

The Fall of the Incas: Massacre in the Andes (Part 2)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 2

In this gripping continuation of 'The Fall of the Incas,' Dominic and Tom delve into the high-stakes meeting between Sp…

The Fall of the Incas: Battle for the Sacred City (Part 5)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 5

In this gripping episode, Dominic and Tom explore the escalating tensions between the Spaniards and the Incas as Manco …

The Fall of the Incas: Empire of Gold (Part 1)

The Fall of the Incas · Part 1

In the first part of this gripping episode, Dominic and Tom explore the harrowing tale of the Spanish conquest of the I…

Greatest Paintings: The Ghost of Spain – Velázquez’s Las Meninas - FULL EPISODE

Greatest Paintings with Laura Cumming · Part 2

In this episode of The Rest Is History Club, Tom and art critic Laura Cumming dive into Diego Velázquez’s masterwork, L…

Greatest Paintings: Dawn of the Dutch Golden Age - The Arnolfini Portrait - FULL EPISODE

Greatest Paintings with Laura Cumming · Part 1

Join Tom and art critic Laura Cumming as they delve into Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, a masterpiece shrouded in m…

RIHC: The British Empire, Tudor Lovers, and War Poetry

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Mark Forsyth about his book Rhyme and Reason, a popular-history surve…

Joan of Arc: For Fear of the Flames (Part 4)

Joan of Arc · Part 4

This episode is the final instalment of The Rest Is History’s multi-part exploration of Joan of Arc. Tom Holland and Do…

2025

2 episodes

RIHC: Historical Love Affairs, Totemic History Books, and the Naming of Wars

This New Year’s Eve Rest Is History bonus episode is a members' Q&A in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook recap th…

RIHC: The Secret Life of James I, Mary Queen of Scots, and the Execution of a King

This bonus episode features Claire Jackson discussing her new biography The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI…

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Series in this era

23 series

Aztec epic

8 episodes Aired: 2023-11-06

Great World Cup Saga

8 episodes Aired: 2022-11-28 – 2022-12-17

Mary, Queen of Scots

7 episodes Aired: 2025-07-20 – 2025-07-30

Life and times of Martin Luther

6 episodes Aired: 2024-03-06 – 2024-03-25

The Fall of the Incas

6 episodes Aired: 2026-02-16

Medici

5 episodes Aired: 2025-06-08 – 2025-06-17

Christopher Columbus

4 episodes Aired: 2023-02-20

Elizabeth I (November 2025)

4 episodes Aired: 2025-11-10

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

3 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

Amsterdam

2 episodes Aired: 2023-07-17

Historical figures

132 tagged

Elizabeth I of England

29 episodes

Henry VIII of England

25 episodes

Charles I of England

21 episodes

Charles II of England (Charles Stuart)

19 episodes

Oliver Cromwell

19 episodes

Hernán Cortés

17 episodes

Mary, Queen of Scots

17 episodes

James VI and I of Scotland and England

16 episodes

Mary I of England

16 episodes

Edward VI of England

14 episodes

Historical events

76 tagged

English Civil War (1642–1651)

22 episodes

Execution of Charles I (1649, England)

16 episodes

Restoration of the Stuart monarchy (1660)

14 episodes

Protestant Reformation (16th century)

13 episodes

English Reformation (16th century England)

11 episodes

Glorious Revolution

11 episodes

Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588)

9 episodes

Christopher Columbus's first voyage / European landfall (1492)

8 episodes

Conquest of Granada (1492)

8 episodes

Counter-Reformation / Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

8 episodes

Books

323 tagged

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

10 episodes

Diary of a Nobody / Diary of Samuel Pepys consolidation (Pepys kept as separate canonical)

Author: Samuel Pepys

4 episodes

Adventure in Time, the Fall of the Aztecs

Author: Dominic Sandbrook

3 episodes

God's Englishman

Author: Christopher Hill

3 episodes

Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad

3 episodes

Paradise Lost

Author: John Milton

3 episodes

Rivers of Gold

Author: Hugh Thomas

3 episodes

The Canterbury Tales

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

3 episodes

95 Theses (Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences)

Author: Martin Luther

2 episodes

Acts of the Apostle s

Author: Traditional Attribution or Various

2 episodes

Authors

252 tagged

Tom Holland

14 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

9 episodes

Hugh Thomas

6 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

6 episodes

Geoffrey Chaucer

4 episodes

John Hemming

4 episodes

Samuel Pepys

4 episodes

William Shakespeare

4 episodes

Christopher Hill

3 episodes

John Guy

3 episodes